Unidirectional second harmonic generation based on electromagnetic induced transparency-like phenomenon derived from standing waves

The nonlinearity and one-way response associated with an electromagnetically induced transparency-like (EIT-like) phenomenon based on a standing wave are theoretically analyzed and experimentally measured. The dark-meta-atom's strong energy localization results in strong second harmonic generation (SHG), while input for the opposite direction elicits no EIT-like response and a 20 dB decrease in SHG strength. The second-order standing wave can be tuned to affect the efficiency of SHG. The results presented here may represent a novel approach to designing nonreciprocal devices such as high signal-to-noise ratio electromagnetic diodes.